I. Field of the Invention
Our invention relates generally to burial caskets used in the undertaking and funeral industry. More particularly, the invention relates to casket assemblies that combine the aesthetic appearance of a typical ornate casket with an inexpensive inner capsule that is removed from the casket shell before burial. Relevant prior art casket assemblies may be found in United States Patent Class 27 and the many subclasses listed thereunder.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Traditionally, a deceased is interned within a burial casket that is aesthetically ornamented and normally quite expensive. As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the primary expense of most funerals is the cost of the casket. Caskets are expensive because of their ornamented construction and the materials employed therein. Prior art casket assemblies have attempted to overcome this expense by combining inexpensive inner capsules with reusable outer ornate shells or surrounds.
Examples of this approach are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,613,189; 3,654,676; 4,265,006; 4,249,289; 4,337,556 and 4,788,757. These prior art devices disclose several attempts to alleviate the expenses of purchasing a traditional ornate casket by utilizing an expensive reusable outer shell and an inexpensive inner capsule. However, these systems fail to adequately utilize the existing supply of ornate caskets by providing a method of retrofitting these caskets with an inner capsule. Also, the inner capsules do not selectively function singularly without the outer shell.
An interesting device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,185. The side and end walls of the outer shell (casket) are suspended on the sides of the inner capsule (coffin). This device suffers from many of the same problems as the other prior art devices.
Another approach at solving the expense of a traditional casket is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,630. The device disclosed therein is a casket comprised of inexpensive waxed cardboard material. One of the advantages of this device is its compact storage prior to its use. Unfortunately, this device lacks the structural strength of conventional caskets and fails to adequately preserve the integrity of the burial vault as well as the solemnness of the burial services.
Therefore, it is desirous to provide a casket assembly utilizing an esthetically attractive ornate reusable outer shell and an inexpensive inner capsule. It is also desirous that the inner capsule facilitate subsequent handling after removal from the outer shell. Further, it is desirous that the locking assembly for the capsule and shell also function to lock the capsule handling assembly to the capsule.